


Love, Are You Real?

by senioritastyles



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Banter, Boyfriends, Cashton, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mashlum, Mashton, Multi, but I'm really not, domestic boys, little bit of teasing, malum, this is tooth rotting i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senioritastyles/pseuds/senioritastyles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael hums happily, rubbing one eye with a closed fist as he lets go of Calum’s hand in favor of speed walking toward Ashton and thumping against his chest in a tight hug. Ashton buries his face in Michael’s sleep mussed hair, holding him just as firmly and listening to Calum’s feet slap quickly along the floor until the youngest boy wiggles under Ashton’s arms and holds him right over where Michael’s arms are. </p>
<p>Ashton adjusts his arms so they fit snugly, one around Michael’s right side and the other around Calum’s left, leaning his face down to kiss the tops of their heads. “Morning.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Or: Some domestic Mashlum for your reading pleasure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love, Are You Real?

**Author's Note:**

> (title is from Adore by Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande)

Ashton’s eyes flutter open early, 8am at least, and he wants to groan at his lack of ability to sleep in but he’s unwilling to disturb Michael’s warm sleeping body curled up against his chest and Calum’s body pressed against Michael’s. He had another late night yesterday, hunched over the kitchen table with his glasses falling down his nose and a black ballpoint pen in his right hand, tapping it rhythmically against the corner of his mouth as he stared at the spread of bills and calculations in front of him. They’d been home a lot more often the past two months, so they bills are a lot higher than the previous average of $3 while they were still on tour. He’d taken to paying the bills the second the three of them moved in together late last year, knowing Michael would undoubtedly forget to do it and Calum would mess up the math entirely. He doesn’t mind, he likes handling things so his boys can relax and not worry about anything like they’re supposed to on break. They always argue with him, saying that he deserves to relax too and that he shouldn’t be taking on every responsibility that comes with own a house—like grocery shopping and cleaning. Ashton brushes them off every time, kissing their cheeks and smiling brightly because they’re cute and he knows they mean well, but he also knows that if he left it up to them, nothing would get done and if it did manage to that it wouldn’t be done properly and he’d end up redoing it anyway.

 

Today is Sunday, which means laundry and yard work and that Calum and Michael will probably wake up begging him to make them breakfast. It’s become a Sunday tradition, the breakfast thing, and they always end up eating pancakes because they’re Calum’s favorite and Michael will give into anything as long as Calum pouts the right way; Ashton can’t say no either way. With a heavy sigh, Ashton heaves himself up off the bed, moving as gracefully and quietly as he can so he doesn’t wake his boys up, stretching with a soft hum and grabbing the laundry hamper on his way out of the room. It’s heavier than he expected it to be, but then again Michael changes his outfit five times a day and he thinks that wearing a shirt for more than one minute makes it dirty and means it needs to be washed, so it’s not really all that surprising. He sleepily shuffles to the laundry room on the side of the kitchen, setting the hamper down on the floor and opening the washing machine. He decides to do the darks first, sorting through and tossing the whites into the extra basket they keep in next to the dryer. He shakes his head fondly as he stands there for longer than he should have to, turning all the clothes right side out since apparently his boyfriends have no idea how to take their socks and jeans off without turning them entirely inside out. He gets all the dark clothes—which is basically the entire hamper’s worth—into the machine, adding the detergent and a little bit of fabric softener before closing the lid and starting it up. He hears the soft hiss of it behind him as he shuts the door to the room halfway on his way out, trying to drown out any sound it might make that could disturb Calum and Michael. He rubs over his face with both hands, trying to wipe the sleep away as he pads toward the kitchen table to retrieve his glasses, having left them there when his eyes were too sore to keep staring at the papers.

 

He sits back down in front of them now, easily picking up where he left off since he knows Calum and Michael won’t be awake for two more hours at least. He clicks his pen open, ignoring the streams on sunlight pouring across the table in thick lines and writing out a check to the electric company. He signs it in small swirly letters and puts it in the provided envelope, sealing it shut and setting it to the side, always preferring to do things the old fashioned way rather than online. Michael always makes fun of him for being an old man, an old soul, but Ashton can’t even deny it really. He likes stuff the old school way, the classic way, and if it brings that cute scrunchy nosed smile to Michael’s face and makes Calum giggle quietly at the blonde’s jokes then that’s just an added bonus. He manages to get through all the bills they’re supposed to pay finally, having done most of the calculations last night. He seals the last envelope, picking up the small stack and heading outside to put them in the mailbox. Just as he’s shutting the door and locking it behind him, he hears two distinctly different sets of footsteps on the hardwood—one thudding a lot harder (Michael) than the other. He smiles to himself and prepares for the onslaught of just-woke-up-but-still-sleepy energy, watching the two boys round the corner to the front hall hand in hand. 

 

Michael hums happily, rubbing one eye with a closed fist as he lets go of Calum’s hand in favor of speed walking toward Ashton and thumping against his chest in a tight hug. Ashton buries his face in Michael’s sleep mussed hair, holding him just as firmly and listening to Calum’s feet slap quickly along the floor until the youngest boy wiggles under Ashton’s arms and holds him right over where Michael’s arms are. 

 

Ashton adjusts his arms so they fit snugly, one around Michael’s right side and the other around Calum’s left, leaning his face down to kiss the tops of their heads. “Morning.” 

 

Calum hums in response, nuzzling his face into Ashton’s chest and the older boy suspects he’s still half asleep. Michael looks up and smiles, pouting his lips for a proper kiss that Ashton has zero willpower to resist giving him—not that he’d want to but like, morning breath and stuff. Michael’s still smiling when Ashton pulls back, and he can’t help moving back in to kiss the younger boy’s nose softly. Michael scrunches it in response and it makes Ashton smile wide.

 

“Hey, my turn.” Calum mumbles, pouting something terrible, his entire face scrunched up in sleepy displeasure. 

 

Ashton huffs and kisses him too, pushing the pout away with his own lips. “You know I’d never forget ya, baby.”

 

Calum smiles as that, turning to press a kiss to Michael’s cheek. “I know.”

 

Ashton shakes his head with a lopsided grin, patting Michael’s ass lightly before untangling himself from his boys and making his way back to the kitchen to clean up the mess of papers still littering the table. Before he even gets there the washing machine beeps, signaling the cycle is done and he doesn’t want the wet clothes to sit there for any amount of time so he swings around and heads toward the laundry room. He switches everything into the dryer, tossing in two dryer sheets and starting it up before throwing the light clothes into a load with the towels and starting that. He can hear Calum and Michael banging around in the kitchen just a few feet away and he knows exactly what they’re doing which makes him laugh a little bit as he walks out and they come into view. Just as he’d expected, Calum is kneeling on the counter pulling out two large glass mixing bowls and passing them to Michael below him, shuffling to the side and closing the cabinet before opening a different one and grabbing the box of pancake mix and the bag of chocolate chips. Michael takes them and puts them next to the bowls, crossing the kitchen to grab a wooden spoon and a spatula from their ceramic holder. As Michael leans down to grab the pan from the lower cabinet, Ashton walks over and put his arms around Calum’s waist, lifting him up and helping him down off the counter. Calum’s feet hit the ground and he giggles, tilting his head back for a kiss that Ashton gives him easily. He turns his head to see that someone even cleared off the table for him, which is a nice touch although he expects they’re just trying to save his time so he can cook for them.

 

“You know, one of these days we’ll have to learn how to make these ourselves.” Michael chuckles, leaning against the counter with a handful of chocolate chips, popping a few into his mouth.

 

“Mike, put those back right now.” Ashton scolds, sounding like a parent as he furrows his eyebrows and fixes Michael with a stern stare.

 

Michael has the decency to look at least a little bit sheepish as he reluctantly dumps the chocolate back into the bag. “You’re no fun.”

 

“Hush. Now if you wanna learn how to make pancakes, come here and I’ll teach you.” Ashton announces, letting go of Calum and picking up the pan from where Michael left it on the counter by the stove.

 

He turns the knob, hearing the rapid clicks of the gas turning on and then he turns it a little more and the flame ignites. He keeps it on high as he grabs the cooking spray from the cabinet next to his head, spraying it liberally over the heating pan. “First step, spray the pan so the pancakes don’t stick.”

 

Michael hops onto the counter, curling his hands under the part that juts out an inch or so and holding on, leaning forward so he can still see what Ashton is doing. Calum stands dutifully by Ashton’s side, trailing his every movement around the kitchen as Ashton shakes half a box of pancake mix into one of the bowls and half into the other.

 

“Then, you add about 2/3 of a cup of water for every cup of pancake mix.” He says, and he can practically feel the confusion rolling off of Michael and Calum. “Or just eyeball it most likely. You don’t want it to be too thick but thicker is better than too watery. You want it to be somewhere in the middle, like this.” He tells them, using the wooden spoon to stir the water into each bowl of mix, demonstrating the right consistency by keeping some mix on the spoon and lifting it up, dripping it back into the bowl.

 

“Hmm, looks good.” Calum mutters, kissing Ashton’s left bicep where his face was resting as he watched Ashton.

 

Before Ashton can respond, the telltale sound of a bag crinkling sounds from behind them and Calum giggles just as Ashton warningly says, “Michael...”

 

Michael groans and huffs, putting the chips back yet again as Ashton carries one bowl back over to the fully heated pan while Calum carries the other. “Why can’t I just eat some?” He whines, crossing his arms childishly over his chest.

 

“Because there will be plenty in your pancakes, babe.” Ashton reminds him, snatching the bag from next to Michael and dumping a good portion of it into one of the mixing bowls and stirring it together.

 

He leaves the other one mostly plain, pulling out the small jar of vanilla extract and adding a splash of it in, stirring that one too. He smiles to himself at the fact that he has to make two separate batches of pancakes every time, the vanilla-plain ones for himself and Calum and the chocolate chip for Michael. 

 

He turns the heat down under the hot pan, grabbing Michael’s bowl of mix first because the blonde hates waiting and he’ll throw a fit if he doesn’t get his pancakes first. Chocolate chip is the only way he’ll eat them, which is why Ashton takes the time to make the different mixes. He wants both of his boys to be happy and he doesn’t mind the extra mess. 

 

“Then once the pan is hot, you turn the heat down a little and spoon some mix into it.” He explain, showing them exactly how much to take and how to get it from the bowl to the pan without making a complete mess.

 

“How do you know when the first side is done?” Michael wonders, discreetly shoving a chocolate chip into his mouth and crunching down on it.

 

Ashton sighs and shakes his head, ignoring the fact that Michael’s greedy fingers sneak back in the bag for more. “The uncooked side will start to bubble, and that’s when you flip ‘em.”

 

“Really? I always thought you had to just keep checking with the spatula.” Calum admits, leaning his side against the counter as he stares at Ashton’s face.

 

“Well that’s one way to do it, but they’ll take longer if you keep lifting it off the heat like that.” Ashton explains, watching the pancake start to form small bubbles on top, shoving the spatula under it and carefully flipping it over. “See, perfect.” He smiles proudly at the perfect golden brown hue of the pancake muddled with the dark misshapen circles of chocolate, watching it fluff up as the other side cooks.

 

“That one’s really chocolate-y.” Michael hums, the smile in his voice making it clear that he’s happy about it.

 

“Gross.” Calum jokes with a small laugh. “I don’t know how you can eat that much sugar so early in the morning.”

 

“It’s a talent really.” Michael brags, shoving half a handful of chocolate chips into his mouth all at once.

 

Ashton sighs again and grabs a plate, sliding the first pancake onto it before yanking the chocolate chip bag away from Michael and rolling up the opened end. “That’s enough, Michael. You’ll make yourself sick if you keep eating these and then eat the pancakes.”

 

Michael whines but relents, knowing from experience that Ashton is right—he just can’t stop himself really. Ashton quickly sets about making the second pancake, spooning some more mixture into the pan and letting it cook.

 

“Can I try?” Michael asks, hopping down from the counter and kissing the corner of Ashton’s mouth. 

 

“You wanna flip it?” Ashton asks, nervously handing the spatula to Michael when he nods. “Okay, just be careful please.”

 

Michael nods again and bumps his hip lightly against Ashton’s standing in front of the pan and keeping his eyes diligently trained on the top of it to watch for the bubbles. His tongue pokes out of the side of his mouth, just the tip of it, like it always does when he concentrating particularly hard on something, and Ashton can’t help it when he wraps his arms around Michael’s waist and hooks his chin over Michael’s shoulder, kissing his neck softly.

 

“Don’t distract me, Ash, I want my pancake to look perfect like yours.” Michael mutters, staring at the cooking pancake like it might get up and walk off if he takes his eyes off it.

 

“It’ll be fine. When you see the bubbles, flip it over and it’ll look exactly like mine did.” Ashton assures him, kissing his temple this time.

 

“Can I try too?” Calum asks, voice hopeful and bright.

 

“Of course you can, baby.” Ashton nods, giving him an award winning smile that Calum returns.

 

Michael scoffs. “Well you’re not touching my pancakes. The last time I let you make me food, you nearly burnt the house down AND my meal was ruined.” He says, flailing excitedly as the bubbles form on his pancake and he manages to flip it perfectly.

 

Calum squawks defiantly, face mildly offended. “Hey, I tried my best, asshole.”

 

“Yeah, that’s the sad part.” Michael mumbles, and Calum’s jaw drops.

 

“Hey!” Ashton reprimands, slapping the side of Michael’s thigh with a strong hand. “Apologize right now, Michael.”

 

Michael huffs, looking at Calum with a sincere expression. “I’m sorry Cal.” He admits, sitting the spatula down and squirming away from Ashton so he can close the short distance between him and Calum and pull him into a tight hug, kissing his head. “I didn’t mean it. You can make my pancakes if you want.”

 

Calum snorts, hugging Michael back. “Thanks but no thanks, I’m not touching your weird dessert pancakes.”

 

Michael laughs and sticks his tongue out at Calum, making the younger boy laugh too. Ashton rolls his eyes, already started on another of Michael’s pancakes, checking the mix and nodding happily at the fact that he poured just enough to make four, Michael’s preferred amount. He makes them as quickly as he can, feeling his stomach rumble as he listens idly to Michael and Calum. They’re talking about video games, that much Ashton can decipher, but that’s where the oldest boy loses interest slightly since he’s not really too keen on playing them. He gets the last cooked pancake onto Michael’s plate and turns off the stove for the time being, pulling out the maple syrup and putting it all on the kitchen table in front of Michael’s seat—the side closest to the wall, the chair on the right.

 

He sets down a fork and pours a small cup of milk, placing it next to the plate before walking over and pulling Michael away from Calum’s arms, giving the blonde a kiss. “Food’s ready, Mikey.”

 

Michael squeals happily and kisses Ashton again, moving his legs quickly over to the table and sitting down in the seat Ashton already had pulled out for him. He scoots closer and opens the flip cap on the syrup bottle, tipping it and drowning his pancakes in it, digging in as soon as he puts the bottle back down, cap still open. Ashton shakes his head for what feels like the millionth time today, grabbing the cooled down pan and wiping the inside with a slightly damp paper towel, knowing Calum hates when there’s melted chocolate still in there that gets stuck on his own pancakes. Once it’s clean Ashton sets it back down and turns the stove on again, spraying the pan with cooking spray and giving his and Calum’s pancake mix a quick stir to make sure it didn’t settle.

 

“Do you want me to do the first one or do you want to?” Ashton asks, hovering his hand over the pan to check the temperature, pouring some mix into it once he’s satisfied.

 

“Me, please.” Calum smiles, taking the spatula from Ashton’s hands.

 

Ashton puts himself in the same position as he was with Michael—holding Calum’s waist with his chin on his shoulder—kissing Calum’s cheek. Unlike Michael’s determined demeanor, Calum leans into the kiss, even turning his head to catch Ashton’s lips in a proper one. 

 

“Better pay attention babe.” Michael calls from the table, mouth obviously full of food as he says it.

 

Calum makes a noncommittal noise against Ashton’s tongue where it managed to sneak into his mouth, sucking on it briefly before pulling away and putting his attention back on the pancake. He was just in time too, bubbles just starting to fluff up on it, so he gingerly gets the spatula under the cooked side and lifts it up, turning it over perfectly.

 

“Good job baby.” Ashton smiles, knowing Calum needs the encouragement when it comes to cooking since the younger boy is, admittedly, not the best at it—the worst, really, like maybe even worse than Luke.

 

“Thanks.” Calum grins proudly, feeling Ashton’s hands squeeze his sides before the older boy lets go to grab two more plates for them. 

 

Calum moves the finished pancake onto one of the plates, stepping aside and putting the spatula down so Ashton can finish the rest. It goes much quicker when it’s just Ashton doing it, but the older boy is always happy for the help and he doesn’t mind taking extra time. He’s got two pancakes on each of their plates in no time, shutting off the stove and carrying both plates to the table while Calum grabs forks and the butter from the fridge—him being the only one who uses it. Ashton puts his plate at the head of the table and sets Calum’s at the seat directly across from Michael. The blonde is already mostly done, just has half a pancake left, and it disappears before Calum’s even finished putting butter and syrup on his own. Ashton eats quickly too, an entire pancake gone ahead of Calum once the youngest boy starts eating finally.

 

“You eat so slow, Cal.” Michael chuckles, smiling so Calum knows it’s all in good fun and that Michael doesn’t mean anything bad by it.

 

“Not everyone scarfs down food like a ravenous lion, Mikey.” Calum laughs back, carefully chewing around a somewhat large chunk of pancake.

 

“Yeah, well.” Michael shrugs, getting up from the table and taking his plate with him.

 

Ashton hears him set it in the sink and he waits patiently to see if the water will turn on and Michael might wash his own dishes, but it never happens just like Ashton knew it wouldn’t. Instead Michael sits himself back down in his chair and sips at his milk, half finished. 

 

He smiles at Calum again, a subtle warning that another joke at the youngest boy’s expense is coming. “You should just have someone feed you. It’d be so much faster than your slow ass hands.”

 

Calum huffs with a smirk, narrowing his eyes at Michael. “Hey, Ash?” He calls, and Ashton smiles to himself because he knows exactly where this is headed. “Will you feed me? Michael’s impatient for me to finish apparently.”

 

Ashton shovels his last forkful into his mouth, chewing quickly and swallowing before he smiles as calmly as he can even though he wants to laugh. “Sure thing, baby, c’mere.”  
Michael looks genuinely shocked as Calum slides his plate over in front of Ashton and gets up, plopping himself sideways in Ashton’s lap, facing Michael. Ashton stabs two of the small pieces Calum cut up for himself, putting his hand under it to catch any dripping syrup as he brings it up to Calum’s mouth and feeds it to him. Calum takes it off the fork and chews it happily, giving Michael a self-satisfied smirk as he swallows and accepts the next bite Ashton offers him.

 

Michael pouts, eyebrows furrowed as he stares at his mostly empty cup like it’s the milk’s fault. “Okay, I get it, you can stop now.” His voice is flat and slightly annoyed but Ashton and Calum know him well enough to detect that he’s not actually hurt or upset.

 

“Aw, Mikey, I would’ve fed you too if you’d have waited for us to eat.” Ashton teases, giving Calum the last bites of his food.

 

“If I’d have known it was an option, I would have waited!” Michael groans, throwing his hands up slightly in exasperation.

 

Calum slides off of Ashton’s lap and kisses Michael’s lips with his own slightly sticky ones, grabbing their plates and forks and bringing them to the sink as Michael licks the syrup residue off of his mouth. 

 

Ashton hears the sink turn on and he smiles, listening to the dishes clang as he turns his attention back on Michael. “I’m sorry baby boy, I’ll feed you at lunch, okay?”

 

“Good.” Michael mumbles, sounding much happier and he stands up and quickly situates himself in Ashton’s lap where Calum just was.

 

Ashton smiles warmly at him, leaning in slowly and rubbing his nose against Michael’s before pushing their lips together and tangling their tongues. Michael hums, his fingers curling against the sides of Ashton’s neck as Ashton’s hands splay out over Michael’s lower back. The oldest boy vaguely hears the water shut off in the kitchen, and Calum’s footsteps move across the floor for half a second before they pause and then continue again but much faster, like the youngest boy had to assess the situation first. Calum’s mouth is suddenly nudging at Michael and Ashton’s connected mouths, trying to move them apart just enough. It works and they get the hint, turning their heads to one side to make room for Calum to lean in and join the kiss too. Ashton’s bottom lip gets caught between Michael’s lips and his tongue is licking at Calum’s mouth before it switches and Calum sucks at his lips while Michael takes control of his tongue. Ashton feels something stir in his stomach at the feeling and he pulls himself away from them, watching them move in on just each other instead. Their mouths are wide against each other’s, and Ashton can hear the slick sounds of them kissing filthily on top of him.

 

“Alright, alright. At least let me up if you’re gonna keep doing that.” Ashton groans, pushing lightly at Michael’s hips. 

 

The oldest boy would sit here and watch all day if he could, but therein lies the problem because Michael and Calum would quite literally sit here and do this all day and Ashton won’t ever get anything done. Michael and Calum reluctantly move off of him, pouting only a little until Ashton stands up and kisses each of them individually, the slickness of their lips wetting his mouth. He’s quick to pull back so they don’t get carried away and distract him from his “chores”. 

 

“I’m gonna go cut the grass, so you two be good, please.” He requests, eyeing them as they smirk and nod, scampering off towards their bedroom loudly. “And someone fold the laundry! I’ll switch it over, but someone has to fold it!” He yells, heading to the laundry room to bring the dry clothes out into the basket and put the clean wet ones in the dryer and start it, grabbing his “yard work shoes” form beside the washer.

 

He yanks them on and half closes the door to the room on his way out, focusing his ears and listening to the quite obvious moaning coming from down the hall. He sighs fondly, a half smile quirking up one side of his face, kicking the shoes back off and running down the hall to their room, knowing fully well that nothing is getting done today. If he’s honest with himself, he knows nothing was getting done the second his boys woke up, but that’s okay, the laundry and the yard can wait.

**Author's Note:**

> GREETING CHILDREN. Okay so this one wasn't one I originally planned on writing, but the group chat was lit today and this idea popped up from two of my angels, Michelle and Lia, and so I wrote it as a surprise for them! It was supposed to be short but lo and behold it came out to be 4.3k so my bad. Either way, I wanted this to be cute and fluff and sweet and boyfriend-y and I hope it satisfied! As always, feel free to leave comments and feedback below, I love you guys and thanks for reading<3
> 
> tumblr: senioritastyles & babyhemhem  
> twitter: xtraceex  
> instagram: traceethekid  
> snapchat: youngtray  
> ponder: moonlightbaby  
> phhhoto: laprincessa


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